


Sick Day

by FanaticFangirl2602



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Modern AU, One Shot, Other, So Much Friendship, Whump, Winter Whumperland 2017, sick!keith, whumpexchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 09:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13143720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanaticFangirl2602/pseuds/FanaticFangirl2602
Summary: Keith should have seen it coming. Actually, he did see it coming. The little voice in the back of his mind had been scolding him for going so hard for the past month, but all he’d done was push it aside and ignore it.A dumb decision.





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RandomDragonDoodles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomDragonDoodles/gifts).



> This is a gift for BaymaxFangirl87 on Tumblr, for the Winter Whumperland event! I hope you enjoy this fluffy piece of Keith whump, and the fun little surprise Easter egg at the end. ;) Merry Christmas!

Keith should have seen it coming. Actually, he did see it coming. The little voice in the back of his mind had been scolding him for going so hard for the past month, but all he’d done was push it aside and ignore it.

A dumb decision.

He shivered as he walked across the university’s campus and shoved his hands in his pockets. He’d been cold all day. Between the brisk wind and dark clouds looming overhead, it was no wonder why. It was a cold day for everyone in the city of Altea, and the forecast promised it’d get even colder towards nightfall. The threat of rain made the weather even worse. The sky hadn’t opened up yet, but it looked like it might any second. Keith personally hoped it waited until he got home, because he’d completely forgotten to grab an umbrella.

Another dumb decision.

Thankfully, the building his class took place in wasn’t too far away, and soon he was granted a reprieve from the cold. He pulled his hood down as he walked in, a quiet, content sigh making its way past his lips as the wall of warm air hit him. He stood there a moment, letting his tense muscles relax from the heat inside, before walking down the hallway towards his classroom.

This was his last class of the day and, out of all the other classes crammed into his schedule, his favorite. Sure, Professor Coran was a bit… eccentric, but he was a good man and a good teacher. He’d been teaching at the university for years and knew the material inside and out. Really, Keith couldn’t be more grateful to have such a good professor.

The only probably was Coran talked. A lot. Class usually ran long. Sometimes they got out five minutes late, sometimes it’d be half an hour later before Coran dismissed them. They rarely got out on time and, usually, Keith didn’t mind it, especially since whatever Coran would be rambling about was often interesting, even if it didn’t have much or anything to do with the class. Today though, Keith just wanted to get everything over with. Between the cold and the fatigue that’d been dragging him down all day, going back to his dorm and taking a nap sounded lovely. But he had to get through this last class first.

Walking into the familiar classroom, Keith headed straight to Coran’s desk to sign in, paying no mind to the other students already seated. “Ah, Keith! Welcome!” Coran greeted, grinning cheerfully. He did it with every student when they came to class. Creating a positive bond with people was important to the professor, as they’d all found out when the semester had first started. It’d taken awhile for Keith to get used to it, but now that kindness and consideration was part of why Coran was one of his favorite professors. “How are you today, lad?”

Keith shrugged as he signed his name at the bottom of the sign in paper in his messy handwriting. “Fine,” he answered, despite the tiredness he was feeling and the growing presence of a headache. He forced what he hoped was a casual smile as he looked up at the older man. “You?”

If Coran noticed something was off, he didn’t show it. “So far, so good!” He answered with a small chuckle.

Keith made his way to the back of the room as Coran closed the door and clapped his hands together. “Alright,” he said, as Keith shrugged his backpack off. The young adult sat in the seat that’d been claimed as his all semester and watched as Coran walked back over to his desk and opened the textbook they’d been reading for the past few months. “Everyone, turn to chapter twenty-one!”

The next hour was a blur of discussion and textbook pages. Keith tried to follow along, to read and listen to what was being taught, he really did. But the increasing pressure in his head made it difficult to focus on the words in the textbook and the shivers he’d had outside had decided to come back, growing until it almost felt like he was back outside in the winter air instead of in a heated, warm building.

He kept to himself and remained silent throughout the class, opting not to participate in the discussions. Participation did make up part of his grade, but only a small portion of it and Coran was an easy going professor. Besides, Keith almost always spoke up when they were talking about a lesson. Surely, skipping out this one time couldn’t hurt.

If anyone found his behavior odd, they didn’t comment on it. That, or he just didn’t notice. Even if someone were to notice, he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care about what they’d think or if they were looking at him. All he wanted was for class to end somewhat on time so he could get back to his dorm and bed before it started raining.

For once, the universe decided to help him out. Coran wrapped the class up at six o’clock sharp, right when it was supposed to end, and bid them farewell for the night. Keith tiredly told the professor goodnight before he left the classroom and made a beeline for the exit closest to his dorm building.

The brisk air hit him full force as he stepped outside, making him shudder. He zipped his jacket shut and shoved his hands in his pockets before going on his way, walking swiftly across the campus grounds. Normally, the distance he had to go to get to his dorm didn’t bother Keith. It wasn’t that far, in his opinion. The college was decently sized, but once you figured out where everything was, it didn’t feel that large anymore.

Today though? It felt like he was hiking three times the distance. His backpack straps were digging into his aching shoulders and the biting wind was ruthless. It felt like Mother Nature was personally attacking him.

No sooner than the thought had crossed his mind, the sky opened up.

Keith groaned and pulled up his hood, but it was useless against the rain. His jacket wasn’t made to help keep the rain off off someone and was already starting to get soaked through. The poor, worn out material wasn’t meant for this kind of weather, unfortunately.

The student sighed, resigned to his fate. He trudged to his dorm building, shaking from the chill seeping into his bones. By the time he was back inside, he was completely drenched. The fabric of his clothes stuck to him uncomfortably as he walked to his room.

He allowed himself a second of relief when he entered upon seeing his roommate wasn’t there. Matt wasn’t a bad guy, but Keith didn’t want anyone to see him this way. He felt worse than he had all day and was completely miserable. He wouldn’t be able to handle Matt’s extroverted, loud personality right then.

He let his backpack, easily as soaked at he was, fall off his shoulders and it hit the ground with a thud. A small part of his mind cringed at the thought that his books and papers inside the bag were probably wet as well. The rest of his mind ignored that thought in favor of pulling off his sopping clothes.

Shivers wracked his body, even as he pulled on a new pair of sweatpants. They provided little warmth to the freezing boy. Perhaps it was because he was still wet, but Keith couldn’t even bring himself to think about taking a hot shower and drying off, not with how quickly his energy was draining. He was lucky he was still standing.

But, it seemed, luck always ran out.

He looked across the room at his bed and frowned. It wasn’t that far, but he still dreaded the few steps he had to take before laying down. Cold, tired, and aching, the student sighed as he pulled on a shirt. As soon as he got to his bed, he could nap, and a nap sounded like the best thing ever right then.

Encouraged by that thought, he took a step forward.

Keith wasn’t sure what happened next. The last thing he saw was the floor of the dorm rushing up to meet him. Then, blackness.

*****

Voices. There were voices.

And they were loud.

Head pounding, Keith groaned and cracked his eyes open. Squinting against the light, he frowned as he took in the people hovering around him. His friends were speaking amongst themselves, tones hushed and worries. None of them seemed to notice he was awake now.

Frowning, he turned his head to look at where he was. It looked like he was still in his dorm, but he was on his cot now. Strange, he didn’t remember getting into bed…

Confused and tired, he mumbled, “Wha’s goin’ on?”

That got everyone’s attention. The talking stopped immediately. Five faces whipped around to look at him, some surprised, some relieved. Hunk was the first one to break the sudden silence.

“Ohhh, thank goodness!” The larger boy rejoiced, tackling Keith in a hug. Keith yelped, caught off guard by the action and feeling much more awake as Hunk pulled away. “We were so worried!”

“We still are,” Shiro added, looking down at Keith in concern from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “You have a fever.”

Keith’s frown deepened. That explains some things, I guess, he thought groggily. Slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, feebly waving Hunk’s hands away when his friend tried to push him back down. “How high?” He asked Shiro, words slow and quiet.

It was Allura who supplied the answer. “101.6,” she told him. Like everyone else, the white haired girl looked worried for him, her thin brows furrowed and lips pursed. “Not high enough to warrant a hospital, but enough to make a doctor appointment a good idea.”

Keith was shaking his head before she even finished her sentence. Ignoring the way it made the room spin, he tried to focus on the small group of friends before him. “No, no way,” he protested before wincing at how awful his voice sounded.

“Hate to burst your bubble, Mullet,” Lance started, grabbing Keith’s attention. The normally loud boy had been so quiet since Keith had woken up that he’d almost missed his presence. Lance was staring at him with a seriousness Keith wasn’t quite used to. The Cuban cocked his hip and crossed his arms, staring Keith down from where he was at the end of the bed, “but we found you passed out on the floor. Which means you’re definitely not okay.” Lance arched his eyebrow, silently challenging Keith to challenge him. When he didn’t, the tall boy finished, “Between that and the fever, you definitely need to see a doctor.”

“The only reason we found you passed out in the first place was because Allura said we should check up on you,” Pidge added, jumping into the conversation. She pushed her glasses further up her nose and leaned against the small end table Keith had next to his bed. “She said you didn’t look too good in class earlier.”

“It’s true,” Allura admitted. She pushed a stray strand of hair that had escaped her bun behind her ear and sighed. “Coran even stopped me after class, Keith. You’re not well.”

Keith groaned and flopped back down onto his pillow. He couldn’t imagine getting out of bed, nevertheless going out. Not when it was still pouring buckets outside and he was aching all over. He weakly glared at the ceiling like it was responsible for all his troubles, even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

During all the chaos keeping up with his classes and preparing for finals, he’d run himself down. He’d done allnighters, then never went to bed early to catch up on sleep. He’d skipped some meals, on accident, due to getting caught up in studying. Adding the stress of his upcoming tests, his immune system was probably shot and crying out for help.

“Maybe I can sleep it off,” he muttered, but even he could hear how weak the argument was.

For a few moments, the only sound that filled the room was the rain hitting the single window in the room. From what he heard, Keith guessed the downpour hadn’t lightened since he’d passed out earlier. The idea of walking through the rain again made a particularly large shiver run through him.

A hum. When Keith turned his head, he saw that it was Hunk who’d made the sound. He was staring thoughtfully at the window, tapping his chin with one of his fingers. After a second, engineering major spoke. “You know… I think the forecast said the storm wasn’t going to lighten up soon.” He lowered his hand to his side and looked at the others in the room before continuing. “It’s going to be raining hard for the rest of today, possibly until tomorrow. And our umbrellas aren’t that big.”

“Not to mention most people in Altea have no idea how to drive in this kind of weather,” Pidge scoffed. A smirk tugged at her lips as she caught onto what Hunk was getting at. “Keith’s probably better off in here than out there.”

Lance leaped into Keith’s field of vision and swung an arm over Hunk’s shoulders, his semi-serious expression from before replaced with an almost innocent grin. Clearly, whatever Pidge and Hunk were getting at, he’d caught onto. “Pluuus,” he dragged out the word, “none of us have anymore classes today.”

Allura placed a hand on her hip and looked at Shiro, she herself starting to smile. “They have a point. Perhaps Keith can rest here until the weather clears?”

When Shiro still looked uncertain, Pidge stepped forward and added, “We can give him some fever suppressors to keep his temperature from going higher, maybe even knock it down a few pegs. And when Matt gets off work, he can run by the student store on campus and see if they have any cold medicine.” Jabbing a thumb over her shoulder to point at the window, she added, “And with how late it is, I’m willing to bet all the walk-in clinics are closed. We’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow anyway.”

Keith smiled at his friends. Turning to look at Shiro, he watched while the older man looked down at the floor, eyebrows scrunched together while he thought. Keith didn’t realize he was holding his breath until Shiro smiled and shook his head. “Well, when you say it like that…”

Lance jumped in the air and whooped, then clapped a hand over his mouth when Keith winced and held a hand to his pounding head. The lanky student smiled apologetically. “Sorry,” he whispered.

The next few minutes were a blur of Pidge figuring out the password on Matt’s computer and the others helping Keith get more comfortable. Once he’d swallowed a couple of ibuprofen, had his temperature had been checked again, and been given a pile of pillows to help him sit up, everyone settled down around him.

Shiro and Allura sat on the floor in the front of the bed with Pidge, who was setting up the movie they’d all picked out. Hunk was on the end of the bed, leaning against the wall behind him, and they’d somehow found room for Lance, who was sitting on the middle of the cot, his legs draped over Keith’s blanketed ones. It was cramped, but Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t like having his friends near.

“Alright, we’re ready!” Pidge announced. Allura got up and turned off the lights, leaving Matt’s laptop the only source of brightness in the room.

She returned to her spot next to Shiro, accidentally bumping Keith’s arm with her’s as she sat down. Looking over at him, she smiled sheepishly. “Sorry,” she said quietly.

“It’s ‘kay,” Keith shrugged weakly, his voice raspy and soft.

Lance nudged him lightly and grinned when he got Keith’s attention. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?” He chirped.

Everyone laughed as Big Hero 6 started and, even though he felt like hell, Keith couldn’t feel more content in that moment.


End file.
